Why Is It Called The Oscars?

The Oscars has long been the glitziest event on Hollywood’s calendar, but have you ever considered where its name came from?

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Well, there is no definitive answer to this question, but there are a few pretty convincing theories.

The most popular and well-known rumour is that the then Academy librarian Margaret Herrick was responsible for it in 1934. The story goes that Herrick believed the statue looked like her uncle Oscar, and so the Academy staff started calling it that.

From here, it spread. That same year, Sidney Skolsky wrote the term in his New York Daily News column and the Academy then started using the name officially from 1939.

However, the actress Bette Davis has also claimed to have coined the phrase. It was reported that she named the award after her husband Harmon O Nelson Jr. Some argue that it was a tribute to his middle name, while others have said it was because the statue’s rear reminded her of his.

There are also assertions that Walt Disney was the first to use the phrase back in 1932 when he thanked the Academy for his ‘Oscar’.